Coles’ undertaking will be in effect until those legal proceedings, which have been set down for trial for ten days from 30 April 2018, are heard.

Managing Director David Foote said ACC would suffer significant reputational and relationship damage if Coles was allowed to keep building an overseas sales business using ACC products.

“ACC has spent many years carefully building its brand and reputation for high quality meat, offal and other products, investing in and developing specialist export teams and cultivating a network of overseas customers,” Mr Foote said.

“Today’s undertaking is significant because it allows ACC’s valued and unique vertically integrated business model to remain intact.

“We believe Coles’ conduct, if left unchecked, would allow them to take charge of the relationship with our overseas clients and the goodwill in our brand.

“ACC values its long-term partnership with Coles and we have always honoured the contracts agreed with them but, in recent years, this hasn’t been reciprocated by the Coles management team.”

ACC employs more than 1,400 staff at various sites across Queensland from Cannon Hill to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Fairfax Media’s original story on the legal proceedings between Coles and ACC can be viewed here.